James beady



(No Model.)

J. BRADY.

BINDER FOR ELECTRICAL OONDUOTORS.

No. 310,177. Patented Jan.6,1885.

.Eruen'for:

my improvement is to obviate the above UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES BRADY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BINDER FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,177, dated January 6, 1885.

Application tiled October 16, 1883. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern;

. Be itknown that I, JAMES BRADY, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Binders for Electrical Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of devices commonly termed binding-posts for clamping electrical conductors to articles or apparatus in which the current is utilized. Electrical binding-posts as heretofore constructed have generally consisted of a fixed tubular socket for the conductor, provided with a binding-screw arranged to turn in a screwthreaded aperture formed at right angles in said socket, the extremity of said screw being adapted to impinge directly upon the conductor and bind the same in the socket. In this construction, owing to the direct lateral pressure of the point of the binding-screw against the conductor while being turned, much damage has been done to the latter, its surface being bent and mutilated, and the conductor has been frequently cut and completely severed within its socket.

My present improvement is more especially designed for electrical-arc lamps for securing the circuit-wires thereto, and holding the carbons or electrodes therein, but is also adapted for other equivalent uses, and the aim of named objections and provide a strong and simple binder, which will hold the wire or electrode in different positions with great firmness, and without liability to sever or injure the same, and which will also efficiently protect the insulation about the base of the binder against the attacks of wet or other matter likely to injure the insulation or render it electrically leaky. To this end I construct the binder with a fixed and a movable jaw, each provided with a broad or extended clamping-face, and adapted to be brought together by means of a screw,'and thus bind the conductor or wire between their respective clamping-faces; and I also provide the base of the binder with an attaching metallic stem, and an overhanging shed or inverted cupped disk extending out over and covering the underlying insulation, whereby the rain or other matter falling on or about the binder is kept away from the insulation and shed from the edges of the cupped disk, thus protecting the insulated joint of the binder from injuries or leaks. I prefer to construct the movable clamping-jaw in the form of a yoke provided with a screw passing through one side or extremity, and having a clamping-faceupon the opposite side or extremity, in combination with a fixed jaw arranged within said yoke between its clamping-face and said screw, and provided with a clamping-face opposite the clamping-face upon said yoke, whereby the conductor may be secured between said jaws by the pressure exerted by the screw upon the fixed jaw. The clamping-faces of the jaws maybe so grooved or formed that a conductor may be held either vertically or laterally between them.

My invention therefore consists, mainly, in the features above outlined, as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is aview in elevation, partly in section, of an electric-arclamp frame with my invention applied, for at taching the circuit-wires and supporting the carbon pencils orelectrodes. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the binder detached and on a larger scale, with a conductor held laterally in place between its clamping-jaws; and Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof with the conductor removed. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the binder, with a conductor clamped vertically in place. Fig. 5 is a detached perspective view of the movable jaw. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the binder applied as a carbon-holder, to hold the lower or stationary electrode of the lamp; and Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of the binder adapted as a carbon-holder for the upper or movable carbon of the lamp.

Similar letters of reference appearing in different figures indicate like parts.

Although I have illustrated my invention as applied to an electric lamp, its application to other forms of electrical apparatus where a binding post or connector is employed will be obvious without requiring special illustration or description for each application.

In the drawings, A is the movable and B the fiXed jaw, formed of any suitable metal. The movable jaw is preferably constructed in the form of a yoke, as shown, embracing the fixed jaw B within its longitudinal slot a.

Both jaws are preferably provided with notched clamping-faces c c, as shown in Fig. 4, adapted to tightly secure a conductor, 0, between them. A thumb-screw, D, extends through a screw-threaded aperture in the extremity of the yoke A opposite from the clamping-face O, and is adapted to impinge upon the fixed jaw B, thus forcing the movable jaw A, upon which the screw is mounted, into proximity to the fixed jaw for clamping the conductor between them. It will therefore be seen that, as the clamping-faces are broad and of extended length parallel with the wire, they will take a firm extended grasp thereon when forced together, thus insuring a firm hold of and a perfect contact with the wire without in the least tending to injure or sever it, which is a desideratum heretofore much needed in heavy electrical work.

The preferred form of the movable jaw is separately and more fully shown in Fig. 5, and it is constructed with open sides Z) I), and an additional notched clamping-face, d, intersecting and preferably crossing the face 0, and arranged to be opposite to the corresponding lateral clamping-face (Z upon the fixed jaw, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby a conductor, as seetionally shown at O in said figure, may be laterally clamped between the jaws. A pin, 0, projecting from the fixed jaw B into or through the open sides of the movable jaw A, serves to limit the movement of the latter away from the fixed jaw and to prevent its detachment therefrom.

Although the fixed jaw may be attached to its support in any practicable manner, I have illustrated it as being secured to or cast with a stem, F, adapted to be secured by a nut or otherwise to the frame J of the lamp, the connection of said stem with said frame serving also to unite a second conductor or conduct ors, usually the magnet-wires, to the bindingpost, as shown in Fig. 1. I'also cast with or attach to said stem a fiat bell-shaped cap, G, just below the fixed jaw B, this cap in the construction shown in the drawings being made to unite said jaw with the stem Fthat is, the fixed jaw B, cap G, and stem F, being preferably cast in one piece, as shown in Fig. l. The movable jaw A is also cast in one piece in the form as best shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 5, and the parts are thus adapted to be completed with very little fitting.

In employing the binder for mechanically uniting the line-wire I to the frame of the lamp and electrically uniting it with the conductors row, the cap G completely sheds or covers the insulating packing or washers h, interposed between the frame J and the stem F. This insulating material is clamped in place by means of the nut n, which nut also clamps the wires w w (which lead to the operating mechanism of the lamp) to the stem by means of the metallic washers i i. A perfect insulation of the conductors w w and line-wire I is thus obtained, as any rain or moisture falling upon the lamp or trickling down the binder is shed by the cap G, and thus carried away from the insulating material, and caused to drop from the edges of the cap G to the frame of the lamp, instead of accumulatingbetween the frame and the binding-post, as it usually does in this class of joints as heretofore formed, which is thus likely to swell or injure the insulation and render the joint electrically leaky, but which is completely obviated by my improvement.

My improved binder may also be employed as a carbon-clamp for supporting both the fixed and the movable carbons of an arc-lamp. This use of the invention I have illustrated in connection with Fig. Gas supporting the lower carbon of the lamp. The carbon-pencil P is in this instance supported between the jaws A and B of the clamp in the same manner in which the conducting-wire I is clamped, as before described. The movable jaw Ais here shown as closed on the sides, with the exception of slots for the pin 6, it being unnecessary to form it with open sides, as is desired for the case of the wire-clamp before described. This carbon-clamp is secured to the frame of the lamp in substantially the same manner in which the wire clamp is attached, as before described, and fully shown in Fig. 1, and the inverted overhanging cap G at the'base of carbon clamp, which extends out over and beyond the insulation, protects it, as before described, from rain or moisture. This cap also serves a further important purposein this case, that of receiving and rapidly shedding the ashes or carbon-dust falling from the carbon-points, and thus prevents the same from coming in contact with or accumulating about the insulation, and hence preserves a tight electrical joint at this point,whereas it has been a common experience heretofore to find this joint quite leaky from the accumulation of dust and ashes which had become wet and compacted around the joint, but which, however, is effectually prevented by the improvement described.

Fig. 7 illustrates the device as adapted to hold and suspend the upper and movable carbon of the lamp, and in this case the fixed jaw A is provided with a vertically-perforated lateral lug or boss, A, in which the usual rod, K, moving in accordance with the arc-controlling mechanism, is rigidly secured, as illustrated, by means of the set-screw s. The up per carbon may be clamped between the jaws in the manner already explained.

It will be readily understood that the protecting shed or cap G may be applied to the socket and stem of a common binding-post, as well as to the particular form of clamp or socket herein shown.

In the drawings I have shown the jaws of the binder as formed with one grooved vertical face and with one grooved horizontal face adapted to hold one wire horizontally or one wire vertically; but, if desired, the jaws may have two parallel grooves adapted to hold two wires in either position.

WVhat I claim is 1. In a binder for electrical conductors, a fixed and a moving jaw, each having crossing or intersecting clamping-faces,whereby a con ductor may be clamped in more than one position, in combination with a screw for bringing said jaws together, substantially as set forth. a

2. In abinder for electrical conductors, the movable clamping jaw A, in combination with the fixed jaw 13, having the pin 6 projecting into or through the sides of said movable jaw, substantially as set forth.

3. In a binder for electrical conductors, the movable clamping-jaw A, having slot at, open sides 12 b, and intersecting or crossing clamping-faces c d, and provided with the screw D, in combination with the fixed jaw 13, having corresponding clampingfaces, and arranged in the path of said screw, substantially as set forth.

4. An electrical binder formed with an in termediate shedding flange or cap, G, an attaching-stem, F, beneath said flange, and a socket for binding the wire or connection above said flange, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In an electrical binder, the intermediate overhanging shed or flange, G, in combination with the underlying insulated stem F, the overlying fixed jaw B, and corresponding movable jaw, A,with its clampingscrew, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

J AMES BRADY.

VVi tn esscs:

JNo. E. GAVIN, CHAS. M. HIGGINS. 

